RUPERT- With the Greenbrier West Lady Cavaliers leading Liberty 4-1 in the fifth, something needed to happen for the Cavs to pull away from the Lady Raiders before Liberty began to feel like they were still in the game.
And it was a freshman that delivered.
West’s Layla Williams stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and unloaded on a 1-1 pitch from Liberty’s Maddie Cox and sent it over the fence to dead center field for a grand slam as the place went wild and her Cavalier teammates greeted her at home plate emphatically.
It was Williams first home run of the season. It also helped her Greenbrier West team notch a critical 10-4 victory as the regular season winds to a close.
The Cavaliers (14-7) got several good hitting performances at the plate on a night where they totaled 11 hits.
Brooklyn Adkins was 1-3 with a double, a run, and 3 RBI. Ellie Deitz and Kaelyn Bevins each had two hits and scored two runs. Plus, Bevins drove in a run as well. And then there was Williams, who ended the game 2-4 with a run, a homerun, and 4 RBI.
Brilee Redden, who had a rare casual night, got a night off in the circle and instead the Lady Cavs rolled with Laikyn Tolley who responded nicely. She went all seven innings, allowed just six hits, four runs (3 earned), and had nine strikeouts.
After the game, Williams was happy with her results at the plate.
“Pretty excited, pretty good,” she told the Greenbrier Valley Channel when asked how she was feeling.
She also attributed her success to two people.
“My mom and my grandparents,” she said.
Greenbrier West will close their regular season on Friday night, May 8 at home versus Midland Trail then will begin regional tournament play next week as the 2-seed in Class A, Region III.
